Sunday, December 18, 2011

Sylvia Fisher is not like most other Amish girls her age. Instead of marrying and managing a home, she prefers to milk dairy cows and manage a farm. This different and independent attitude is not so appreciated by her father or her beau and she soon loses all that she holds dear because of it. When further problems arise, Sylvia finds herself forced to leave her home and work for another Amish couple in a different district. While there, she learns about herself and others in a way that changes her life forever.

This book is the third in a series called The Ada House Series. While the author fills the reader in on some pertinent information and plot lines from the first two books, this book would be best read after reading its predecessors in the series. I didn't realize it was part of a series when I ordered it and while I enjoyed it, it was difficult to follow the numerous characters whose stories were told in previous books. I really think I would have enjoyed it much more had I started at the beginning of the series.

But, regardless of my lack of attention to detail and thus mistake in ordering the third in a trilogy, the book was fun, entertaining, and had a good message. I'd certainly recommend it to any avid reader of Amish fiction novels--after you've read the first two: The Hope of Refuge and The Bridge of Peace. Great work, once again, Cindy Woodsmall!

Thanks, Waterbrookmultnomah, for the complimentary copy for purpose of review.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

I LOVE to get free or cheap items from Amazon (do they have at least one of everything in the world? I can most always find what I'm looking for there!). I do this by using giftcards that I earn from Swagbucks on a regular basis.

Swagbucks is a search engine, like Google or Yahoo, that rewards the searcher with points that are redeemable for various prizes (including Amazon giftcards!). There is no monetary cost involved (however, I'm pretty sure they track what people are searching for advertising purposes, so if it's something you'd rather not have tracked, it might be best to use another search engine...though I'd not be surprised if google and yahoo sell information collected as well...) This has been an inexpensive way for me to earn a little extra spending $ without doing any extra work since we use the internet daily anyway!

Right now, Swagbucks is offering a 70 point bonus for new sign-ups when you use the promo code HOLIDAYSWAG (good through December 31, 2011) and after sign up you should receive an additional 30 points--so that's a 100 point bonus (nearly 1/4 of the way to an Amazon giftcard already!). If you don't already have an account, you can register HERE and start earning swagbucks for prizes. One of the easiest ways to use this search engine is to download the toolbar so it's always showing on your screen and convenient to use when you wish to serf the web.

Disclaimer: I will receive swagbuck points for each new account through my link. However, my review of Swagbucks has not been tainted by this fact, it is my honest review.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Cindy Woodsmall's new book, The Christmas Singing is a fun, short read with a message of honesty and love. While it's somewhat predictable, it's engaging and relaxing...in fact, I couldn't put it down! You can read my full review of the bookHERE . AND, if you'd like to check it out for yourself, you can read an excerpt from the first chapter here .

There's also a video book trailer to whet your interest! I wouldn't be surprised if we see this book as a tv movie in the next couple years...

If you enjoy fiction about the Amish community, with a Christian flavor, you'll enjoy The Christmas Singing. Through December 20th, you can get a 30% discount AND free shipping on the book (AND on any other book from WaterBrookMultnomah!! Great for Christmas shopping!!) using promo code Christmas11.